


Foreword to the ‘Essential Recent History of Soul Society for Human Shinigami of the Gense Protection Garrison’

by Edo_Hikaro



Series: The Rose-Coloured Path [1]
Category: Bleach, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate History, Alternate Origin Story, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ancient History, Canon Rewrite, Character Death Fix, F/M, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Multi, Open to Interpretation, Origin Story, Other, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Thousand Year Blood War Arc, Pre-Canon, Pseudo-History, Pseudoscience, Shinigami, Shinigami/Zanpakutou Bond, Shinou Shinigami Academy, Story within a Story, Zanpakutou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-07 14:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19211362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edo_Hikaro/pseuds/Edo_Hikaro
Summary: SERIES NOTE: Kyouraku Shunsui, when he was Taichou of the Eighth, used to write a novel called 'The Rose-Coloured Path' for the Seireitei Communication which was very unpopular. He was never bothered by its poor reception. Nanao and Lisa decided to re-release it in parts as an anthology of selected short tales, and see whether rank-and-file shinigami of the Gotei, after all that had happened to them in recent years, would now respond differently to his novel.IN THIS TALE:A foreword to an Academy textbook for Substitute Shinigami written by the astute, learned former Thirteenth Division Sixth Seat a century into the future, on the day before his retirement.With a surprise conclusion at the end.





	Foreword to the ‘Essential Recent History of Soul Society for Human Shinigami of the Gense Protection Garrison’

**Author's Note:**

> Posting for feedback. This is takes place in the same universe as my ongoing '[In All But Blood](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1201744)' four-part series and will eventually become part of the whole. For now, I'll just put this in this new side series.
> 
> Reason for this is to explain to Western audience the whole Shinto-Buddhism basis for the universe. Is it clear? Tite Kubo struggled with making his world comprehensible to beyond Japanese audience, for his canon dealt so much with fighting and power-ups that not much room was left to address these issues. And all published compendiums and guides didn't capture everything, or worse, misinterpreted them. It's hard for Asians who aren't exposed to the Western world to know what is clear to Western perceptions, and it's equally hard for Westerners who aren't exposed to the Asian world to understand Asian belief systems. I'm an Asian who grew up with both my own and in Western cultures, and English is my first language. So I'm giving the explanations a shot. I added some of my own devices as well, for Kubo-sensei didn't explain everything (hurray for me!)
> 
> It helps to read [Part 1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16792792/chapters/39412645) and [Part 3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17640359/chapters/41596487) of that series, but this snippet can also stand alone for the time being. 
> 
> If you do read Part 3, keep in mind that it's a WIP, undergoing some plot refinement.
> 
> Should this be an interlude between Part 3 and the coming in Part 4? Feedback please! Acknowledgements will be given.
> 
> All canon devices are taken from [Bleach wikia](https://bleach.fandom.com/wiki/Bleach_Wiki).
> 
> Unfamiliar terms and names are hyperlinked, just click to see the explanations.
> 
> [Email](mailto:edo.hikaro@gmail.com) questions welcomed! Sorry, too busy writing and no time to say more here...

**Foreword to the ‘Essential Recent History of Soul Society for Human Shinigami of the Gense Protection Garrison’**  

When I accepted the invitation of the authoring team of this textbook to write a foreword for this volume, I was presented with its final draft ready for publication. Upon my first reading I was impressed, for the contents of this tome were extremely well-researched and clear effort and love had gone into its making to ensure that it would not only educate, but also engage. I wondered how I could possibly write a foreword that such an extraordinary labour deserves, and for quite a while I was at a loss.

A full year passed before I noticed an aspect was lacking – all that was recounted in the textbook were written by Shinigami for Konpaku or other Shinigami, and assumed the student possessed background knowledge of the most fundamental things about their future mission and the world of Shinigami. There was no primer to prepare a Human for the study of a world which was diametrically opposite yet so intimately entwined with Humans and their world. Many of the passages in this tome were also written in a manner unfamiliar to the Human perception.

In my three-hundred-year career as a High Seated Shinigami1 officer of the Gotei2 Thirteen, I had the honour and invaluable experience of serving on the frontlines and therefore, interact with other races of souls. Often did I observe that Soul Society was difficult to understand for those who were not our citizens, much less by those who were our allies and had to work with us.

The writing of this textbook could not be more important, or more appropriate. It will serve as a great utility for all Human Shinigami we hope would soon expand the Gense3 Protection Garrison to the heights its legendary founder hoped it would attain

Therefore with the consent and blessings of the authoring team, I have taken it upon myself to use this opportunity to honour the team, and more importantly, to honour a singular individual whose influence and guidance in my life steered me towards horizons greater than I ever thought I could reach.

Herein, I shall divide this Foreword into two sections:

Section I sets out a concise primer of the technical knowledge for Humans learning about Shinigami for the first time.

Section II sets out a concise background history of the founding of the Gotei Thirteen and the key events in our past that played critical roles in the eventual formation of the Gense Protection Garrison.

It is my sincerest hope that this dual-sectioned Foreword would aid new Human students in their study of the rest of this textbook.

**SECTION I**

_ Introduction _

I wholeheartedly live by the wisdom that knowledge is the ultimate key to success and victory. All Human Shinigami, to discharge our mission to the best of their abilities, must therefore be given the knowledge of how our mission came to be. Nowhere else presents a better starting point than knowledge of the fundamental nature of Soul Society.

Soul Society is best understood by the Human mind through first looking at the comparative historical timelines of Soul Society and the Gense, before moving on to the salient, crucial differences between both realms. The following is as concise a brief as I can create to distinguish these differences. It may at first seem irrelevant and overly technical for a history textbook, but it is essential prior understanding to truly appreciate the reason for the existence of all Shinigami, and the reason for the founding of the Gense Protection Garrison itself.

As this Foreword is written for the edification of Humans who are committed to serve as Human Shinigami in the Gense, equivalent Human terms and comparisons are included to ease understanding of an often inexplicable subject. 

_ Overview of Comparative History Timelines _

Academics of Soul Society agree that the history of the Soul Society can be divided into its four major ages: its Prehistorical Epochs, its Medieval Age, its Recent History and its Contemporary History.

For ease of comparison, the corresponding timelines between Soul Society and Human histories are as follows:

(1) The Contemporary History of Soul Society covers the events of the one hundred years immediately preceding the year of this publication, that is, from Genji Year 5001 to 5100, which roughly corresponds to the Human world period from AD. 2001 to AD. 2100;

(2) The Recent History refer to the events during the two thousand years from Winter Solstice Day of Genji Year 3000 to Genji Year 5000, roughly corresponding to the Human period AD. 0 to AD. 2000;

(3) Medieval Soul Society spanned the three thousand years from the founding of today’s Gotei Thirteen in Genji Year 0 to 3000, corresponding to BC. 3000 to BC. 1 in Human calendar, to as far back as the thirty-seven thousandth year immediately prior to Genji Year 0, which our scholars label as Before Genji 37000; and

(4) All events earlier than Before Genji 37000 fall into the era of Ancient Soul Society, which roughly corresponds to BC. 10000 to BC. 30000 in the world of Humans called its Upper Palaeolithic Period. 

The end of the Upper Palaeolithic Period of the world of Humans, which we call the Gense, occurred around BC. 12000 in the calendar of Humans. When the great ice sheets retreated and Humans could shed their animal skins and venture forth into the slowly warming climate of their world, that period is deemed by Soul Society as the beginning of true advancement in Human cognitive abilities.

By comparison, Soul Society was already at the height of its Medieval Age when the Upper Palaeolithic Period of the Gense drew to an end. When Humans still wore animal skins and ate their food raw, the intelligent denizens of Soul Society, which we now call Konpaku4, wore fabric and silk clothing, lived in villages, settlements and pastoral cities, had science, machinery, culture, arts and commerce.

However, in the four thousand years following the end of their last glacial period, Humans developed at such an accelerated pace that by the end of their fourth millennia in a warmer world, around BC. 8000 in their calendar, Soul Society and the Gense were largely similar.

_ Fundamental Differences of Soul Society and Gense _

Cultural and societal differences are merely cosmetic. Humans visiting Soul Society will find it easy to adapt here, the experience for them would very much be akin them visiting another country in the Gense. However, there are fundamental differences which cannot be seen which affect the very substances and natures of both Soul Society and the Gense, and give rise to their differences. These differences in turn give rise to the need for the Balance.

These differences stem from the nature of life itself. How life works is a scientific fact in Soul Society which influence and rule every aspect of daily existence in our realm. However, this fact which is so commonplace in Soul Society is largely unknown or often denied by most Humans in the Gense, including rejection by the greatest Human minds. The cause is due to the limitation of Human senses: what Humans cannot sense, they instinctively deny the existence of.

Why, then, are certain Humans capable of becoming Shinigami to serve in the Gense Protection Garrison?

The answer lies in the inexplicably universal ratio of eighty-twenty. For every hundred existing souls, twenty among them will possess gifts the majority of the eighty do not. If a gift is rare, then only twenty percent of that minority of twenty will possess that rare gift. If a gift is even rarer, then reduce the remainder by another twenty percent. And so on and so forth.

When applied to the Human condition, the result is that from the dawn of their evolution, only a very small minority of Humans would have the ability to see into other dimensions and observe other living beings within them, particularly during the time of death of other Humans, or in places where death once occurred. In time, these handful of Humans wondered intensely about what they saw, and as their tribes lived and died, they wondered about death. They saw that there was no return from death, and death was often cruel and terrifying. To assuage the fears and anxieties of their tribes, these early gifted minority of Humans invented rituals and belief systems to explain what only they could see, which the rest of their populations could not.

Eventually, Humans gained in cognitive powers, and their rituals and belief systems surrounding death became more complex and systemised. These rituals and beliefs gained in importance and among some communities, became the fundamental guide of Human thought and hence, the development of their communities. Ultimately, these systemised rituals and beliefs would evolve into organised religions in modern Human societies by the beginning of Human calendar, AD. 0. But always, throughout the ages of Human evolution since its prehistory, the majority of Humans remain unable to see the souls of their dead, nor the souls of other races and species after death. Death remains a mysterious and frightening thing to Humans, and understanding it a never-ending preoccupation.

The truth is what every Human Shinigami now knows.

All souls of Humans and other races and species return to Soul Society after completing their lives in the Gense. In Soul Society, each returned soul will live for one lifetime before its turn comes again to rejoin the flow of souls through the Balance, from where it will be reborn into its next mortal life. Upon its death in its next mortal life, the soul returns to Soul Society for another one lifetime, through which it will live before its turn comes once more to be reborn into another mortal life. And so on and so forth. Thus life and death do not fall into a linear progression with a finite starting point and a finite ending point, but runs as an endless, infinite cycle.5 Souls which cycle through the Balance as intelligent beings such as Humans are called Konpaku when they take their turns in Soul Society.6

To accommodate the perpetual flow of souls between Soul Society and the Gense, both realms therefore exist in parallel in the same place. However, they do not inhabit the same positions in space nor time. Rather, they exist in their own respective dimensions, separated from each other by a limitless space we call the Kurokou7, which is filled with chaotic masses of the building blocks of all realms and realities, namely: time fabric, particles of matter and elemental energies.

 The separation of Soul Society and the Gense cause them to differ from each other in very fundamental ways:

  1. Time



Time runs at the same speed in both Soul Society and the Gense, but not simultaneously. The length of one day in Soul Society is the same as the length of one day in the Gense.

However, due to the distortion caused by the Kurokou, time does not occur in the same cycle in both realms. In any given moment, it could be one night in Soul Society on a certain day, but day in the Gense on another day months apart. Or it could be daytime in both Soul Society and the Gense with a difference of mere hours between them.

What is much less evident about Soul Society to a Human visitor is the inherent longevity of Soul Society’s denizens. A Konpaku lives for hundreds of years, and a few handfuls can live thousands of years, even eons.

  1. Matter



The material composition of Soul Society is the exact opposite of the Gense. In the Gense, all matter whether animate or inanimate is made of atoms, called kishi in Soul Society. In Soul Society all animate and inanimate matter are made of reishi, or spirit particles in Gense’s terms.

Kishi and reishi are direct opposites. A kishi particle, or an atom, comprises a positively charged centre surrounded by a negatively charged cloud of sub-particles (or ‘sub-atomic particles’ in Human terms) called electrons. A reishi particle is the exact opposite, comprising a negatively charged centre surrounded by a positively charged orbiting cloud of sub-particles.

When a kishi and a reishi meet, it is a meeting of two diametrically opposing forces that cancel each other out. The cancellation process produces an energy. If large enough quantities of kishi and reishi meet, the meeting releases enough energy to obliterate both groups of particles, including their positions in the fabric of time. Human scientists describe this as the collision of matter and anti-matter.

  1. Energy



Soul Society and the Gense are also complete opposites in how energy is produced.

In the Gense, energy is produced externally by kishi reacting with other kishi in both animate and inanimate matter, in a process which Humans call chemical reaction. This reaction causes kishi to bind together to form molecules, which then form larger structures such as genes in living tissue, or objects in inanimate things.

In Soul Society, however, the opposite occurs. Each reishi generates its own energy internally and does not interact with other reishi to produce energy. The energy of each reishi binds with the energy of other reishi to become larger structures and forms.

The inherent ability of the reishi to generate its own energy has several consequences.

The most obvious is that living beings of Soul Society no longer require food to stay alive. Konpaku no longer need to eat to live, only an occasional drink of water is all that is required to keep the reishi particles of their bodies lubricated. This is the reason Konpaku are much longer-lived than Humans, for Konpaku bodies are no longer aged rapidly by the constant burn of food for fuel to power their life force.

The most important consequence, however, is the force exerted by the reishi. At this juncture, it must be noted that while Soul Society is far more advanced than the Gense in understanding and using the energy of its most basic particle, which Humans call particle science, our knowledge is far from complete and is still in the process of discovery and development. A few conclusive characteristics have been confirmed by our scientists and arcane masters, however: 

(1) Energy generated by reishi exerts a quantifiable force which has a measurable weight. The equation is therefore simple: the larger the number of reishi gathered in Soul Society, the higher the total amount of force  exerted and therefore the greater the total weight of the dimension; 

(2) Energy generated by reishi attracts reishi to one another and form energy bonds. In the Gense, kishi, or atoms, bond to one another by the attraction and repulsion of their positive and negative charges, forming larger structures called molecules, which in turn bond to other molecules. In Soul Society there are no equivalent of molecules. Reishi particles bond to one another because the energy they generate naturally seek to adhere to other reishi energy. When enough reishi are bonded together, they form larger structures, giving rise to bodies of both living and inanimate objects. Bonded reishi energy generate a compounded amount of energy output; and

(3) Reishi generate different energy types.8 In each energy type there are sub-types. When reishi bond together to form larger structures, those which generate the same energy type or sub-type augment their combined output to an exponentially compounded degree. The more exact the match in energy type, the greater the compounding effect. The more different the energy type, the lower the compounding effect. This is the reason why some Konpaku have stronger reiryoku than others.

  1. Reiryoku, the Soul Force of every living being



In Soul Society, reishi which bond to form the bodies of living beings imbue those beings with an internal energy, which we call the reiryoku (which Humans name as spiritual power). The proportion of matching energy types in one living reishi body determines the strength of that being’s reiryoku.

Most Konpaku possess a few energy types in their bodies, hence the mix of their reishi energies are very varied, with each energy type too greatly diluted to serve any voluntary, conscious use.

However, Konpaku who qualify to become Shinigami possess a large proportion of one energy type in their bodies, and very few quantities of other energy types. The high concentration of one energy type in a reishi body gives the Konpaku the ability to voluntarily and consciously exert and use that energy for many purposes, the most common being for combat. This is the key factor makes a Konpaku powerful enough to be trained as a Shinigami. Indeed, the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society’s history possessed only one energy type in almost every single reishi of their bodies, with barely any dilution, and in some, no dilution at all.

Thus, it follows that the total number of living reishi beings existing in Soul Society determines the total soul force exerted by our realm as whole. The higher the number of living reishi beings, the greater the soul force of Soul Society.

The situation in the Gense is markedly different, although the end result is the same. Reishi is limitlessly abundant in Soul Society and thus comprise everything in the realm. There is no kishi at all in Soul Society. In the Gense, however, both kishi and reishi exist. Kishi is limitlessly abundant in the Gense, with reishi existing alongside, albeit in too small quantities to be able to form larger structures without the aid of external forces. This difference impacts the reiryoku of Humans, and the total soul force exerted by the Gense.

Kishi does not generate its own internal energy, hence Humans generally do not produce reiryoku in their bodies like Konpaku. Yet a very small minority of exceptional Humans sometimes exist. Their bodies are born with enough reishi to produce reiryoku, and the scientists of Soul Society have long observed that greater numbers of such Humans tend to be born in locations of the Gense which contain natural nodes of reishi in their material composition. Such locations are given the name Jyuureichi by Soul Society’s scientists, which roughly translates to Grounds of High Spiritual Energies. Human Shinigami will be familiar with this term, for Karakurachou, the location of the first headquarters of the Gense Protection Garrison, is one such Jyuureichi.

As Human kishi bodies generally do not generate reiryoku, the total soul force exerted by the Gense is thus derived from the external reactions of its kishi, or atoms, in all animate matter. Energy produced by a living kishi body exerts a far greater force than energy produced by inanimate kishi objects. As such, the total number of souls in the Gense ultimately determines the total soul force exerted by the dimension of the Gense.

It is important to remember that the energy produced by the external reactions of kishi particles are of a very different species than the internal energy generated by a reishi particle. One such difference causes a soul to become imbued with kishi energy itself when it inhabits a living kishi body, for the ceaseless chemical reactions of the kishi of its living body is extremely penetrative. After death, this kishi energy remains within the soul for a considerable length of time, for the amount of reishi in the Gense is too thin to hasten the process of energy cancellation.

_ The Balance _

  1. The Importance



With such opposing natures in matter and energy, it is thus of utmost importance that Soul Society and the Gense must exist only in parallel, and must _never_ meet. If the two dimensions meet, the collision of their kishi and reishi particles will release such a tremendous amount of energy that it would wipe out the existence of both realms, along with the existence of their inhabitants, and all time fabric which made up their respective realities. Such an end would truly be the end, for nothing would remain thereafter, not even a wisp of the faintest memory. It would be as if both realms and both realities, and the lives in them, never existed.

  1. The Problem



During the prehistory of the Gense, which corresponds to the period of Ancient Soul Society, the Balance was naturally in equilibrium. Humans were few enough and after death, there was an adequate amount of reishi in the Gense to erode the residual kishi energies in deceased souls by the natural process of time. Once a soul is cleansed of residual kishi energy, it is restored to its pristine state and is able to enter the Kurokou to return to Soul Society.

However, by the beginning of the last ten thousand years of Medieval Soul Society, around BC. 11999 onwards in the Gense, Human populations leapt into a sudden boom due to their increasingly warmer, more favourable climate. The advent of Human agriculture played a great role in their population increase, for having a permanent place of settlement allowed Humans to focus more attention on building a society and procreation rather than be constantly worried by the supply of food. Thus, despite the much higher mortality rate of Humans, the total number of souls in the Gense increased so exponentially that the dimensional borders of the Gense began to expand outwards.

Seeing this trend, scientists of the first centuries of Medieval Soul Society appointed a king of souls for their realm, whom they addressed as the Reiou, or the Soul King in Human terms. The Reiou has only one responsibility but it is the utmost important one: to regulate the flow of souls between both Soul Society and the Gense such that the total soul force emitted by each realm is maintained more or less equal to that of the other. With the intervention of the Reiou, the Balance was restored and both realms remained apart from each other at a safe dimensional distance.

However, as Human populations continued to increase dramatically, upholding the Balance became more and more difficult. The more Humans there were, the higher the number of Human deaths, and the greater the number of souls still stained with residual kishi energy were freed from living bodies. The amount of reishi available in the Gense, which was already thin to begin with, began to decline even more rapidly as they cancelled out the residual kishi energies in the freed souls, while replenishment of reishi remained at the same rate. Eventually, the process simply could not keep up with the demand and an increasing number of souls of deceased Humans began to linger on the Gense, stained with residual kishi energies and unable to enter the Kurokou of their own accord to return to Soul Society.

This caused the phenomena of soul distortion. As explained in the preceding sections, the kishi energy of the Gense is of a completely different species from reishi energy. Kishi energy is highly penetrative. When residual kishi energies continue to stain a freed soul for too long, the nature of that soul changes. The result was the first emergence of Horou, or Hollows in the Human language, which are souls who were once Humans who lingered for too long in the Gense.

As all Shinigami know, Horou are corrupted or mindless souls of deceased Humans deformed by the agonising torment of a ceaseless hunger that nothing could satisfy. As such, Horou lurking in the Gense prey on the souls of other freshly deceased kishi beings in the mistaken belief that eating other souls will assuage their painful hunger, only to realise too late that it is futile. The existence of a Horou population makes death particularly dangerous for every being, for after death they become prey to Horou.

The situation is exacerbated by the rapid expansions of Human populations, while Human lifespans lengthened by too little to slow down the rate of population replacement. Eventually, souls are added to the Gense through Human births at a speed which outpaces the number of souls returning to Soul Society.

To accommodate the rapidly increasing number of souls, the expansion rate of the Gense also increased. By the beginning of the Medieval Age in Soul Society, the dimensional borders of the Gense were significantly much closer to the dimensional borders of Soul Society. If the progression was left unchecked, both dimensional borders would touch and cause catastrophe to both realms. The situation escalated in urgency when the population boom of Humans in the Gense showed no foreseeable slowing down.

  1. The Solution:  Reiatsu, or Spiritual Pressure, and the beginning of the First Shinigami, and the Creation of the Senkaimon, the Asauchi and the Konsou



Foreseeing this future doom, scientists of early Medieval Soul Society sought for a way to avert it. They concluded that if enough souls were returned to Soul Society, the expansion of the Gense could be slowed, and even reversed. However, the only way for lingering souls in the Gense to return to Soul Society was if they had external and active help, rather than wait for the natural process of reishi in the Gense to assist their return.

The scientists thus began to recruit any Konpaku who possessed reiryoku strong enough to exert an active force that could be channelled and wielded as advanced tools or weapons. They named this active force the reiatsu. In their search, they made the discovery that all Konpaku with strong reiryoku naturally possessed strong reiatsu, but were unable to consciously direct their reiatsu for useful purposes. Thus they developed the first form of reiatsu training for these gifted Konpaku.

Such Konpaku were in the minority even in early Medieval Soul Society. Nevertheless, those who were identified were gathered and trained to assist the Reiou in keeping the Balance. Primarily, they were needed to set out into the Gense to trim the numbers of souls there. Executing this was extremely difficult, for the Kurokou was impossible to cross by living kishi beings without losing their lives, their minds and their memories.

A petition to the Reiou was therefore made by the scientists for additional power and knowledge to solve this insurmountable problem. The Reiou, who saw the purity of their purpose, granted both. With new power and skills, the scientists laboured to create an inter-dimensional gateway through which their trained Konpaku could safely traverse between Soul Society and the Gense to carry out their mission. They called this gateway the Senkaimon, roughly translated as World Penetration Gate in Human tongues.

In the Gense, these Konpaku discharged two primary functions: to cull the population of Horou, and to find and send freshly deceased souls safely back to Soul Society. This was done by cleansing the residual kishi energies of the souls of both Horou and freshly deceased Human souls.

The cleansing of Horou souls was done by killing them with a katana imbued with the reiatsu of these gifted Konpaku, called the asauchi. Made of pure reishi energies, the killing stroke of an asauchi sends its reishi energy through its blade into the residual kishi energies in the soul, thus cancelling out the latter and ‘purifying’ it, restoring the soul to its pristine state and able to rejoin the flow and traverse through the Kurokou to return to Soul Society.

The cleansing of freshly deceased Humans souls need not be as violent. A touch of reishi energy was all that was required to remove the residual kishi energies, and the process was taught to gifted Konpaku as a ritual called the Konsou, which rather aptly translates as Soul Burial in the Human tongues.

As they achieved their objectives over time, the medieval scientists made two fortuitous discoveries: firstly, one Konpaku who possessed a great amount of reiryoku was equal in energy weight to several Human or Horou souls; and secondly, the greater the amount of reiryoku, the longer lived was the Konpaku.

With these discoveries, the urgency of the situation was alleviated. It meant Soul Society need not become as populous as the Gense, and this gave the desperate scientists time. Eventually, the scientists were successful in balancing the total soul forces of both realms at an equilibrium.

However this maintenance must never be slackened, hence the scientists and their trained Konpaku must forever remain vigilant.

Due to their important functions in keeping both realms balanced against each other, they came to be called Baransaa, or Balancers in the language of Humans.

  1. Refining the Solution: Dawn of the Zanpakutou Four Martial Disciplines of Zankensoki



By necessity of their jobs, Baransaa became more skilled over time. Horou were deformed by torment and as such, often violent and dangerous, some even preserving their Human intelligence to become wily. Hunting and culling Horou became a dangerous task, and Baransaa often die in combat in the course of culling duty.

With significantly fewer Baransaa than Horou, this was not a desirable situation. To increase their survival rate, in addition to their skills in using their asauchi in offensive attacks, the Baransaa lobbied the Reiou to permit all Baransaa to imprint their souls onto their asauchi, so that their asauchi would become personalised to each of them and increase their individual powers and skills. The permission was granted, and thus began the zanpakutou, or Soul-Cutter Sword in the language of Humans, the soul weapons of the Baransaa which in time, came to identify them.

Even in its earliest conception, the zanpakutou came into existence in the stage that is known today. The zanpakutou is so perfectly conceived by the Reiou that it does not need to evolve. The principles of the zanpakutou thus have never changed since its very first awakening.

A zanpakutou is powered by the reiryoku of the living body of a Baransaa, but when imprinted with the Baransaa’s soul, it takes on the nature and character of the Baransaa and gains its own sentience and independent identity. This identity is intertwined and intimately related to the soul of its wielder. A zanpakutou is therefore born with the soul, and will die with the soul, unless it is harvested prior to the being’s last breath, though such an endeavour will be difficult to the extreme. Joined at the soul, the zanpakuto is therefore the inseparable and constant partner and companion of a Baransaa.

Even in those earliest days, it was intimately understood and accepted that the Baransaa and their zanpakutou grew together in power and skill. The art of wielding a zanpakuto was called Zanjutsu, and to complement it, all Baransaa were further trained in three other martial disciplines: the unarmed combat techniques of Hakuda, the high-speed and high-agility fighting techniques of Hohou which included the now famous trademark Shinigami technique of shunpo (‘Flash-step’ in Human tongue), and finally, for Baransaa of exceptional levels of reiryoku, the art of casting spells or manipulating the energies of their surroundings called Kidou.

Together, the four martial disciplines of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohou and Kidou became the basic training of all Baransaa and were collectively called Zankensoki, meaning Cut-Fist-Run-Spirit in Human languages. This was the beginning of the Zankensoki today which all Shinigami, Human and Konpaku, study intensively before embarking on their careers. Always, however, and forever, the prowess of a Baransaa in Zankensoki will ultimately stem from his skill and relationship with his zanpakutou.

**SECTION II**

_ Late Medieval Soul Society: Founding of the Gotei Thirteen _

In the last three thousand years of Medieval Soul Society, approximately five thousand years ago from the year of this publication, one unprecedentedly powerful and courageous Baransaa named Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni organised all Baransaa into a formal military force which he named the Gotei Thirteen, meaning Thirteen Divisions of the Imperial Guards in Human language. The name ‘Gotei’ was chosen to signify that Soul Society was the realm of the Reiou, and thus protecting the Balance meant protecting his royal realm.

Similar to the Gotei of today, the first organisation of the Gotei Thirteen was divided into thirteen divisions numbered from the First to the Thirteenth. Each division was led by a taichou, the equivalent of a captain in Human terms, and all thirteen taichou and overall leadership of the Gotei were led by the soutaichou, meaning head captain in Human tongue.

However, unlike the Gotei of today, each division of the first form of the Gotei was further organised into four sub-divisions. Each sub-division specialised in one martial discipline of the four disciplines of Zankensoki to as high a degree as possible. This was to take advantage of the fact that while all Baransaa were equally trained in all four martial disciplines of Zankensoki, individual Baransaa was often stronger in one discipline than the other three. With four sub-divisions under one division, each division as a whole was therefore well-placed to fully maximise the strengths of all its Baransaa down to every individual level. Every sub-division was led by a fukutaichou, or vice-captain in Human terms. Thus in its first form, a Gotei division was led by one taichou and four fukutaichou.

As founder of the Gotei Thirteen, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni thus led it as its first soutaichou and taichou of its First Division, and would do so until the beginning of the Contemporary History of Soul Society. In the first century of his founding of the Gotei, however, Yamamoto Soutaichou had a more urgent task: to increase the efficiency of the Baransaa.

His first priority was to reorganise and systemise the many responsibilities of Baransaa, most notably, in unifying all Baransaa culling expeditions to the Gense and scheduling them into orderly and highly effective tours of duty. He further trained a specialist group of Baransaa particularly gifted in Kidou to be in charge of the Senkaimon, and eventually called them the Kidoushyuu, meaning Kidou Corps in Human terms. The results of his efforts greatly benefited the Balance, for the Horou population and stray souls of the deceased in the Gense became more effectively controlled than ever before. 

As centuries went by, some Humans who were born with just enough energy in their souls to see into other dimensions would sometimes catch sight of a Baransaa, either killing a Horou, or sending a loved one on its way to Soul Society through the Konsou ritual. Humans began calling the Baransaa they glimpsed their ‘Death Gods’ or ‘Soul Reapers’ in their many tongues. Soon, Baransaa adopted the moniker and called themselves Shinigami in their own language.

Pleased with this massive improvement, the Reiou decreed that the year of the founding of the Gotei shall be the year numbered Genji Year 0, with each year forward into time adding ‘1’ to the number behind it. All years before the year Genji Year 0 were henceforth numbered Before Genji 1, with each year backwards into time adding ‘1’ to the number before it.

_ Late Medieval Soul Society: First Restoration Period of Soul Society _

However, the first renaissance brought about by Yamamoto Soutaichou did not last. And the reason was the state of Soul Society at the time he founded the Gotei: Soul Society was fragmented into hundreds and thousands of fiercely independent and often petty and competitive fiefdoms over which the Reiou, focussed on regulating the flow of souls, could not exercise control.

These fiefdoms were headed by dispute-mongers who titled themselves as warlords. They originated during early Medieval Soul Society when gifted Konpaku were recruited to be trained as Baransaa. Not all of them joined the great mission, including some talented ones, and these trained Konpaku broke away to seek their own personal fortunes.

Skilled in Zankensoki, they soon imposed dominion over other Konpaku wherever they settled, and eventually established their own clans. By the middle of the Medieval Age, these clans were organised into sophisticated feudal ke, meaning clans or families in Human terms. Instead of marshalling the resources of their ke to aid in upholding the Balance for the greater good, these warlords bestowed lordships upon themselves, ran despotic feudal ruling systems, and engaged in territorial disputes with other warlords.

At this juncture, the fifth difference of Soul Society from the Gense must be elucidated: While Konpaku do not need food, Konpaku with usable amounts of reiryoku require food as fuel to replenish their reiryoku. As such, to these skilled warrior Konpaku, arable lands were prized commodities for agriculture and livestock. However, above and beyond this, they prized even more lands which were imbued with natural nodes of elemental energies. The naturally generating elemental energies in such lands could augment their reiryoku and increase their reiatsu.

Thus while the early medieval Baransaa were preoccupied with staving off the collision of realms, in their own backyard, warrior Konpaku took the opportunity to fight one another for prized lands, seeding the beginnings of a messy, divided feudal society mired in violent bloody squabbles rooted in territorial rivalries and petty arguments. By the time Yamamoto Soutaichou founded the Gotei, Soul Society was a ruined, fractured and dangerous realm drowned in chaos and bloodbath from eons of feudal wars and conflicts. It came to the point that souls freshly returned to Soul Society quickly learnt from other Konpaku to call Soul Society the Jigokushin, or the New Hell, in Human languages. Worse, the blatant bloodshed and killings lightened the total energy weight of Soul Society and threatened the Balance.

Furious at the selfishness of the feudal ke and their warlords, as soon as he founded the Gotei Thirteen, Yamamoto Soutaichou set about a brutal peacekeeping campaign in addition to continuing the mission of upholding the Balance. He was uncompromising and severe to the extreme in laying down order, his methods ruthless and bloody by necessity, and cruelty was rained unto any who persisted in disregarding the danger they were causing to the Balance.

Within a decade, under the ruthless leadership of Yamamoto Soutaichou, the Shinigami armies of the Gotei subdued the entire southeastern region of Soul Society into a tyrannical kind of peace. And in the heart of Southeastern Soul Society, Yamamoto Soutaichou conquered the strongest feudal warlord and took over his shiro (equivalent of Human fortress cities) as the first base of the Gotei. Southeastern Soul Society henceforth became the first stronghold of the Gotei.

In the ensuing three thousand years until the end of Medieval Soul Society, Yamamoto Soutaichou continued carrying out the dual missions of imposing order in his own home with impunity on one hand, while culling Horou and rescuing souls in the Gense with compassion on the other.

_ Conclusion _

Here we end this primer on the salient developments of Medieval Soul Society. Certainly there are many other aspects to Medieval Soul Society to be learned, but it is hoped that this essay is complete in encapsulating its most relevant facets to Human Shinigami of the Gense Protection Garrison.

Many have criticised the methods of Yamamoto Soutaichou and labelled him a tyrant. Even today, a few factions of the academia of Soul Society continue to debate this. But none has ever, and will ever, refute the effectiveness of his leadership. The greatest beneficiary of his mercilessness was the Balance, and the billions of souls inhabiting both Soul Society and the Gense. 

In my extensive, near-century study of comparative history, I came to be aware that in the Gense, dominant history was interpreted and written by the victors of a war. In Soul Society, there is no such equivalent, for we have the immortal, omnipresent and sentient artificial soul, the Daireishin. This name has no precise equivalent meaning in Human terms, and the closest approximation is Heart of the Great Spirit.

The Daireishin was conceived and created by Yamamoto Soutaichou one thousand and five hundred years ago for the primary purpose of serving as the emotionless, everlasting scribe of all that transpired in Soul Society, which records to the finest detail every thought, deed, emotion and every occurrence natural or otherwise in Soul Society. Without emotions, every single thing recorded by the Daireishin is perfectly free from any influence. If a thing is found in the memories of the Daireishin, then that thing is fact and the truth, no matter how distasteful it is or how much one may wish that it never occurred. Today, the Daireishin has taken its place in the hearts of Konpaku as the ultimate and highest decider of truth in Soul Society.

The chapters of this textbook are abridged from the limitless memories of the Daireishin to deliver a veracious and unbiased account of the importance of upkeeping the Balance. A Human Shinigami will find, at the end of this curriculum, that necessary sacrifices must be made for the greater good of many.

Sacrifice comes with a life and career as a Shinigami, whether Human or Konpaku. When the authors of this textbook first approached me with their invitation to write this Foreword, I was conducting an orientation tour of the hallowed halls of academia of the Shinoureijutsuin, or Shinigami Academy as we affectionately call it, to the latest cohort of Human Shinigami recruits of the Gense Protection Garrison. In those halls are kept on permanent display notable masterpieces of sculptures and paintings created over the millennia by great fine artists of Soul Society, and many of those works were contributed to the Academy by art collectors.

I was showing our latest Human Shinigami recruits the collections donated by the Kuchiki-ke, and I was asked about the identity of a white graceful figure depicted in many of the paintings and sculptures: portrayed in some works as a fierce and fey warrior wielding an exotic pair of identical double-pronged long swords leading ranks upon ranks of Shinigami armies; in others, as a keenly intellectual scholar with a long white braid falling over one shoulder, sometimes meditatively playing a one-stringed zither we call the [ichigenkin](http://www.ichigenkin.com/philosophy.html); in a few, as a mysterious master of arcane with storms and lightning pouring from his bare hands laying waste to black waves of enemies; and in a few rare pieces, as a gentle healer with a kind, sweet smile compassionately treating the injured and the ill.

That beautiful white figure so lovingly portrayed by fine artists of Soul Society is the Shinigami whom I am blessed to have served under for my entire career in the Gotei. His character and life embodied everything that a Shinigami is meant to be, and must be. His deeds are now held as examples that true strength lies in the power to be gentle and compassionate. Most of all, he showed by his actions the true meaning of sacrifice.

Unto this day, his deeds, principles, teachings and countless examples left an indelible mark on Shinigami of the Gotei, and ultimately, on the whole of Soul Society itself. Without him, we would never have understood that the fundamental truth of keeping the Balance ultimately lies in the truths of the heart, and the soul. While this principle seems simple to understand at first, one cannot truly be enlightened until one has attempted to live by it.

The wisdom of this great soul stemmed from his early life, for despite his immense stature and vast power, his life did not begin well. In his youth he faced constant threats from those who desired him for his power and would go to unscrupulous and treacherous extremes to gain control of his gifts. Even more heartbreaking, those who were supposed to shelter and protect him threatened to cast him out to die.

He prevailed, however, for his gentleness and kindness won him the aid and abiding love of his adoptive family: first and foremost, that of our late, great founder, Yamamoto Soutaichou.

All who see Yamamoto Soutaichou as a ruthless and cold tyrant have forgotten that it was he who saved this great soul, and then adopted, and loved and instructed him as his father, sensei and commander. Sharing his conviction that this young soul was bound for future greatness was our late, fabled Chief Healer and First Kenpachi, Unohana Retsu Taichou, who first healed him, then taught him and loved him as the protégé and lover she never had; and the faithful, dearly departed Sasakibe Choujirou Fukutaichou who defended him as he would a cherished nephew. But most of all, it was our present Soutaichou of the Gotei Thirteen, Kyouraku no Jirou Souzousuke Shunsui, who grew up with him, became best friends with him, and who eventually loved and protected him as he would a part of his own soul.

Indeed, the Recent History of Soul Society encapsulated in this textbook, in its very essence, is the story of this legendary family within which, at its heart, was the greatest heart of all. His unique light graced our world for slightly over two thousand years during the Recent History of Soul Society; indeed, eighty years before the year of this publication, the Reiou decreed that the Recent History of Soul Society shall begin on the date of his birth on Winter Solstice Day of Genji Year 3000. With this royal decree, he became the second Shinigami to be immortalised into the very calendar of Soul Society.

His name was Ukitake Jyuushirou, former head of the humble Ukitake-ke, one of the Four Pillars of the Gotei Thirteen, and Chief Commander of Gense Affairs. It is due to his wisdom, foresight and courage that the Gense Protection Garrison now exists. From the last thousand years of his service with the Gotei unto today, we revere him as our paragon of the Shinigami ideals of purity, justice and honour. Today, he occupies an exalted place in our hearts as one of our most legendary, and in some communities of Soul Society, he is deified and worshipped in shrines built in his honour.

Many other heavy burdens of high titles rested upon his slender shoulders in his lifetime. To me, however, in my heart, he would always exist as my Taichou, for he was the taichou of the Thirteenth Division to whom the first cohort of Gense Protection Garrison reported, whose successors to his position now oversee the Garrison.

And it is my final hope, before I retire tomorrow, that this Foreword, and this textbook, will inspire all Shinigami, both Human and Konpaku, for eons to come.

  

**by Kajoumaru Hidetomo**

**Third Seat, Thirteenth Division, Gotei Thirteen and  
** **Adjunct Lecturer, Department of History, Shinoureijutsuin**

**Winter Solstice Day, Genji Year 5109**

 

______________________________________

**References and footnotes:**

**[1]** Gense, pronounced as ‘gen-say’ with the ‘g’ as in ‘gold’, refers to the realm inhabited by Humans in flesh and blood bodies.

 **[2]** Gotei, pronounced as ‘go-tay’ with the ‘g’ as in ‘gold’, means imperial protection guards.

 **[3]** Shinigami, pronounced as ‘shee-nee-gah-mee’ with emphasis on the first syllable ‘shee’, means Death God/s or Soul Reaper/s in the Human languages.

 **[4]**  Prior to Genji Year 5010, equivalent to AD. 2010 in the Gense, the citizens of Soul Society were called Souls. This caused much confusion among Humans, who have been using the term ‘soul’ to refer to all souls inhabiting all living bodies. In Genji Year 5010, Kurosaki Ichigo, the first Taichou of the Gense Protection Garrison, lobbied to his superior officer Ukitake Jyuushirou, Chief Commander of the Gotei Thirteen for Gense Affairs, to rename the denizens of Soul Society from Souls to Konpaku to eradicate this confusion among the first cohort of Human Shinigami recruits. The change of term was granted by the  Central Forty-Six Chamber in Genji Year 5011 (AD. 2011 in the Gense).

 **[5]** Arcane Masters and Dimensionalists of Soul Society long knew of the existence of Jigoku, or Hell in Human equivalent, from countless research expeditions to study the nature of Jigoku. There is conclusive, established evidence that when a soul commits a heinous crime in any of its mortal lifetimes, that soul is removed from the endless cycle of the Balance and condemned to be chained for eternity in the depths of Jigoku, where it will be eaten by the guardians of Jigoku and then regenerate again to be eaten once more, in a repetitive cycle until its life force is utterly consumed and finally ceases to exist. Such an end will be a complete end, and not even a shadow of memory of that soul will remain, as if it never existed in the first place. However, the opposite of Jigoku, the Tengoku, or Heaven in Human terms, remains a mystery. No expedition could be sent to the Tengoku to collect empirical evidence, as such its existence remains a question mark.

 **[6]** There are other terms for souls of sentient beings of lesser intelligence such as animals, which shall not be mentioned here for it is beyond the scope of this textbook.

 **[7]** Kurokou was formerly called Garganta until fifty years ago, when the eminent Chief Scientist of Soul Society, Kurotsuchi Mayuri Taichou of the Twelfth Division of the Gotei Thirteen, found conclusive evidence that the Garganta is not merely a void filled with reishi, the smallest and most basic particle of all matter of Soul Society, but also all used, unused and developing pieces of time fabric, particles of all matter in existence, and elemental energies. With his final evidence, the Garganta was henceforth renamed as Kurokou to better reflect its universality to all realms. Kurokou in Human terms simply means Black Cavity.

 **[ 8]** Broadly, most reishi energy types fall into desire type, which have hundreds and thousands of sub-types. Very rarely, reishi energy types fall into the elemental type.

* * *

He put down the manuscript finally and looked up at his visitor.

Dark, mahogany eyes were gazing at him with that familiar tranquillity. In the pale afternoon sunlight washing in from the sprawling expanse of the wide open balcony, their soft liquid depths were lit from within, intelligence glimmering from beneath feathery ebony lashes.

The slender oval of that face was serenely composed, still flawlessly fine and ivory-skinned, aglow in the ambient light. Long silky white bangs framed the whole delicate, chiselled visage, their gleaming tips softly kissing gently sculpted cheekbones, half obscuring the elegant long arches of startling black brows.

“What do you think?” asked his watching visitor.

The voice was the same. Bearing that same, soft vibrato in its gentle lyrical deep tenor.

He wondered if it would sound the same as the voice in his memory if his visitor sang.

He wondered, if he ran his fingers through that smooth waterfall of gleaming white hair, the strands would still feel as lush, as fine, and as coolly silken as the heavy silk of those white lustrous streams still haunting his dreams.

A long, shining white tress had fallen carelessly over one wide sloping shoulder of his visitor.

Even that was exactly evocative of the glorious mane in his memory.

Then that dearly-known face gave a soft, knowing smile, and the smile was the same. The same quirk of that small, sculpted mouth that brought out the strength of that fine, sharply defined jawline. The same brief peek of small, even pearly teeth behind petal lips like the white heart of a tiny pale-pink blossom.

“I know it pleases you to look upon this form, but the day is wearing on,” gently teased his visitor, his dark doe eyes briefly dancing with a hint of a wickedness that had always been rare, even in the past.

Caught.

“I think it’s ready for publication,” he said honestly, as he always did before this particular face.

Pearly edges of small even teeth bit briefly on that bottom lip in that unconscious habit he knew so well. It always meant there was doubt or disagreement in that mind he loved.

Still loved.

“You do not think the last half of the conclusion sounds rather infatuated?” asked his visitor, doubt showing  on his fine-boned mien.

So even this trait was also the same.

“I think it sounds reverent, but genuine,” he opined. “I would leave it be.” He tore his eyes away and looked down to begin tidying up the thick pile of loose pages. “I haven’t read the entire manuscript, but that’s your job. My concern is the make sure Hide-kun did justice to the foreword.”

“Should he know that the foreword is your idea?” lightly asked his visitor, with that half-smile of conspiratorial mirth he remembered so deeply.

And it still wrung the same response from him, for he flashed an answering smirking grin.

Even though he now felt long-disused facial muscles creak silently in protest.

So his grin was brief.

“Better not tell him. He already took a year to come up with this. Telling him I commissioned it will just panic him and send him into a rewrite, and we’ll never get this published next week.” Sealing the envelope in which the manuscript had come in, he pushed the heavy package across the broad, ancient top of the huge cherry wood desk he inherited, then leaned back against the high back of his office chair.

His right eye socket behind his eyepatch and his right ear were beginning to itch again, as they always did when the weather turned too warm for his mountain folk blood. After a century, spring was once again unseasonably truncating and summer was coming early.

For this second unnatural heatwave in a century, however, he would be enduring it alone.

Unbidden, as he stared at his visitor, he wondered if that body could even drink sake. And if it did, did it still drink it warm no matter how warm the weather?

Those shining dark eyes crinkled in understanding humour, though not a slightest laugh line showed at their corners. There never was any. An amused smile lit up that slender oval face in the same way it always had on those beautifully put together fine features.

“Kuchiki Taichou is preparing to harvest the plum trees tomorrow. Her brother is sending his brew master to assist her, for she is expecting a rather good harvest. The old master is making the long trek from the Kuchiki Mansion in the south even as we speak. You shall soon have your favourite plum vintage. She has not forgotten.”

Kami, even _that_ was known?

But of course.

Nothing escaped the being before him.

He decided to test his long-held suspicion. “And when can I expect the first test batch to be ready?”

A knowing look entered the mirthful light in those eyes. “She is preparing for them to be ready in time for your birthday this mid-summer, but they will not be. The plums of this harvest require more time, until Winter Solstice Day to be exact. I have been visiting the Thirteenth regularly for her kimono masters to take measurements of my body. Perhaps when I see her next, I shall hint to her it is more appropriate to postpone the centennial memorial to Winter Solstice Day. There will not be the same snowstorm this time unlike the last. And…” He paused, his mirth fading. “ The date is more meaningful, ne?”

So his visitor really _could_ see into the future.

And even manufacture an exact facsimile of that soft heart.

He swallowed, and found the voice to say, “And I suppose Byakuya is funding it all?”

“Apparently so.” Those dark eyes and that expressive mien saddened slightly. In a softened voice, his visitor informed, “Byakuya never speaks of it, but he misses him as much as you do. The look in his eyes the first time he saw me was the same as yours.”

“Then why did you choose this form?” he blurted, unable to help the brusqueness of his tone. “You’ve been unsettling everyone since walking out of the blizzard like this last Winter Solstice Day.”

Those wide elegant shoulders shrugged. “Why would I not? His power raised me. In all ways that matter, he was my true father, not Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni.”

To hear that voice and see that face so factually deny Yama-jii, it unsettled him to his core.

It was time to end this meeting. The longer it lasted, the worse it pained him.

Deliberately casual, he rose and automatically reached for his hat, still a conical [sugegasa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_conical_hat) straw one with a large red sakura shape painted over its top. Nearly a century ago, he changed the red to the crimson shade he knew so well. These days he hung his hat on the corner of his high-backed chair whenever he was in his office.

Which was now depressingly often.

It was uncanny how his visitor immediately understood his unspoken dismissal with neither rancour nor offence in the  same astute perceptiveness. In a whisper of silk, he rose as well, his frame exactly as tall, as slender and as lithe as the one who nurtured and guided him, all those centuries ago. His long white hair shifted like a sheet of silk as he leaned down slightly with that unconscious elegant grace, extending slender white angular hands to collect the heavy envelope. Then he straightened and stood surveying him momentarily, effortlessly holding the heavy package between long, tapering ivory fingers.

Fingers which were perfectly reminiscent of those that once clung onto him with desperate, aroused strength in the dark of sensual nights.

A white bang had fallen across that noble patrician nose, and those fingers unconsciously brushed back the silken strands to tuck behind the delicate shell of an ear.

An ear as ivory and perfect as the one he used to kiss.

Pain speared through his heart.

It did not help any at all that the clothes were entirely different. A plain, creamy white silk kimono held together with an obi of dark jadeite-blue, and over it, a plain hip-length [haori](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haori) of the palest sea-green. The long wide sleeves neatly nestling over one another, draping over well-turned supple wrists the colour of pale, fine ivory. The dark collar of a deep-brown [shitagi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shitagi) peeked from under the white lapels of the kimono, hugging the pale column of that slender white throat.

A throat that once arched back in helpless surrender beneath his ardent mouth.

Resolutely, he jammed his hat onto his head, picked up Katen and slid her single [tachi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachi) form into his [hakama-himo](https://www.hakamas.com/how-to-tie-a-hakama-for-aikido.html). Still the same pale-green one which he never changed.

“Rukia-chan will tell me when the plum vintage is ready?” he asked one last time despite his pain.

His words sounded hoarse to his own ears. But he did not care.

Because he wanted to hear that voice.

Dark eyes regarded him with gentle compassion. “I shall let her know of your wish, Shunsui,” was the soft reply.

At the utterance of his name in that same, unforgettable way, he could bear it no more.

Stiffly, he nodded, and began to stride towards the exit of his own office, uncaring whether his visitor followed him.

He was not followed.

But he was gifted with a parting shot that went a long way towards soothing his throbbing, wounded heart.

“I think… it is best I choose a new name,” softly floated that heartrendingly beloved voice from behind him.

Shunsui stopped mid-stride, but did not turn.

“His second brother took after him the most. Perhaps I shall call myself Takashi.”

He considered it briefly, then nodded once.  “I’m sure Takashi would appreciate it, kami rest his steadfast soul.”

A breath’s pause.

Then, showing hesitancy for the first time since entering his office, his visitor asked, “And you? Will… will you?”

Shunsui wondered.

Would he?

Would he be able to call that same beloved face a different name?

Could he think of this one as a different person?

“It is important to me that you will appreciate it as well,” added that voice, holding a soft plea in its tone.

That same, soft plea he had not heard in a hundred years.

One that he never denied.

And could never deny.

Shunsui swallowed, surreptitiously moving the rising lump in his throat back down in order to speak.

“He loved Takashi very much in his lifetime,” he said at last, his rasp still escaping him, nevertheless. “And Takashi, while he was alive, loved him in equal measure. When they stood together, they used to look almost alike.” He paused,  then added quietly, “But he was always more delicate. More beautiful.”

There was a respectful silence after he finished.

Turning his head slightly over his shoulder, Shunsui said at last, “It would be a good name for you to have, Daireishin.”

And with that, he left as fast as he could in shunpo before his tears could fall from his eye.

**Author's Note:**

> Homage is paid to Tite Kubo, for the wonderful characters he created and the special world he put them in. 
> 
> All my works are lyrical, literary takes on Kubo-sensei's 'Bleach'. Simply because basing a manga's world on feudal Japanese culture was a literary coup that unfortunately for Kubo-sensei but fortunately for me, was left undeveloped.


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